Sewing Projects

I forgot to post some pics of some recently completed sewing projects. My mom sent me some soft kids books already cut out and all they needed was a good sew. Katya loves books and has taken to these quite well.



I made this blanket for my grandpa. I figure people could always use a nice and soft blanket.

Why does it have to be so hard?

Some classics are just so hard to read. Right now I am reading the Scarlett Letter and have been for 2 weeks. I just can't seem to get through it. The words aren't that tough, so I don't know what it is. I am so frustrated with it. Maybe the problem is me. I can usually sit down and read a couple of pages a minute If that doesn't happen, I usually think it's too tough and give up on it. Maybe I should just relax. It's hard to think about taking the reading slow when you are not sure if a baby's cry will pierce the air in the next few minutes and you'll have to put the book down until who knows when. I guess that I should just realize that some books are harder than others and be grateful for the freedom that we have to read whatever we want.

BookCrossing.com

I just joined a new website called bookcrossing.com. I found it through the frogpond at bzzagent.com. If anyone has any experience with this site, let me know in the comments.

Visit Book Crossing

Another New Skill for Katya

So Proud!

Tonight, Katya started learning how to eat with a fork, and she couldn't be prouder of herself. Each time she put food in her mouth with her fork, she waited for us to clap, and if we didn't, she reminded us that we needed to by clapping with her fork still in her hand. She looked so cute stabbing the fork into her other hand in the manner of clapping. Here are some pictures.

Scooping up some food!

Shovelin' it in!

When we give Katya her sippy cup, and she still has food on her plate, she has to push all the food out of the way so she can put her cup down on her tray without getting it in the food. Even if she is choking, she will still clear the tray so food is not under the cup. I am typing this as Katya still eats, and she is furious that she can't touch the screen and point to the picture of herself. She screams and points like there is a serial killer on the screen that only she can see.

So what do I do?

When most of my day from 8 am till about 8 pm is filled with taking care of the kids, what do I do when they sleep in really late?

This is what I finally saw at 10:15. Cute little Cali
woke up and blessed me with her smiles.


At 10:45 Katya woke up to say good morning and to show
me she has a runny nose.

I sure do love my kids.

Note to Self

Here are ideas for the future when we finally have a house and the kids grow up:

1. 5-6 year old birthday party- A tee party for the girls and their dolls. Each child and doll has their own little chair, little cups, little plates. Serve little sandwiches and little cakes. Girls and dolls where fancy dresses. Decorate big hats for the activity and little hats for dolls.

2. Master bedroom- White wainscoting and white chair rail. Above that, walls will be black. Comforter will be mainly white with a modern black pattern. Sheets will be rich red and so will the curtains. Lounge chair will also be a rich, deep red with black and white accent pillows.

3. Kids room- Lots of bright circles of all different colors and sizes on white walls. Solid bright colored sheets and bedding.

4. Kids playroom( big room)- One corner- floor to ceiling mirrors with ballet bar, hard floor, and ipod with ihome to play dance music; Corner two- large play kitchen and little table with 2 chairs; Corner three- nice art easel with all art supplies in wall mounted organizer; Corner four- Lego corner with wall mounted storage system with some floor storage and a small table; Center of room- round table to do whatever else- homework, reading, large group play, etc.

5. Scrapbook/Craft room- Hard floor maybe of white wood or black and white tile. There will be a huge floor to ceiling window that lets in natural light. The ceiling will be 10 feet tall. The lights will be hanging lights that can be easily moved down a track for more concentrated lighting if necessary. The light shades will be glass in different colors (red, green, yellow, blue). There will be floor to ceiling white cabinets on remaining walls. These cabinets will we special craft cabinets to organize all my different scrapbooking and craft supplies. In the center of the room of the room will be a big rectangular table. It will be white with metal legs. It will have a glass lighted top. The table will also have the ability to go up or down mechanically- all the way to the floor and up to 5 1/2 feet high.

6. Jethro's office- Huge cherry wood solid desk. Nice leather office char and a leather couch. Nice cherry wood cabinets all around the room. He will also have his dream computer that can mechanically raise and lower into his desk. He wants a place for a snake, but we'll see. He will also have a life size manikin in a glass display case for his traditional Russian outfit. He might get lucky and have a flat panel t.v. There also needs to be a good size window.


(A girl can dream, can't she?)

And the Winner is...

Katya is very excited will announce the winner of the two Chili's Smokehouse Bacon Big Mouth Burgers.

Drumroll, please!

The winner is commenter number 11, Nicalous Rudd (do you have Chili's up there?).




Look how happy Katya is that you won, Nic. Please leave a comment with your address and we will send it to you. We moderate the comments, so we just won't publish your comment, and nobody will know your address. And, we won't even spam you!

Chili's anyone?

Jethro and I are part of this advertising company called BzzAgent. We sample and test out products in BzzCampaigns. As part of our job, we talk to others about the products and our opinions of them. It is a great way for companies to get the word out on new products. Jethro has been involved in quite a few campaigns, but I just started.

My first campaign is for Chili's new Smokehouse Bacon Big Mouth Burger. Can I just say "oh yum". They are so good! They are quite large and one burger could definitely feed both Jethro and me. I had the Southern Smokehouse Bacon Burger. I love bacon and with really thick slices of sweet bacon it was so yummy.

I (Jethro) had the Jalapeño Smokehouse Burger and I really liked it. The burger was good, but it was a little dry. That was a bit of a bummer. The bacon was not as seasoned as Staci's burger, but it was still really good. I don't even like bacon, but this tasted less like bacon and more like cooked ham. The fries are also really good. But, of course, I love French fries and hamburgers, so it is a given that I would love this.
I would definitely recommend this to those who really like burgers and definitely those who like bacon. The really aren't too spicy either (at least mine wasn't).

Now for the fun part--a little contest. This contest will end Tuesday night 8 pm Mountain Time. Just leave a comment saying what your favorite restaurant is. (Also, if you're new to our blog, tell me how you found us-for curiosities sake.) Tuesday night, Jethro will draw a number and the author of that comment that is will receive 2 coupons for a free Chili's Smokehouse Bacon Burger that comes with fries. It can't get any better than that. Only one comment per person please. Good luck to all.

So what's happening?

There hasn't been too much going on around our house this week, but here are some pictures of what's been going on for those of you who need a cute kid fix.

Cali's practicing her evil glare for when She gets a little

bigger and Katya starts stealing her toys.

Katya is liking the idea of having a bowl with her dinner.
For a little while she was putting the food on her tray into the bowl and
then putting it into her mouth. She did that until she realized it was more
fun to put it on her head.

Cute!!

I just got the cutest necklace in the mail the other day. I won a contest on Kristi's blog for my word of the year. The necklace is by Lily Lane and I absolutely love it. It is so cute and I'm so excited to wear it around. Thank you Lily Lane for your kindness and generosity and for sharing your wonderful talent. I love it!

Front

Back

(These aren't the best pictures so it doesn't quite do it justice.)

Not enough blogging

You know you have way to many posts to do when your dreams for the last two nights are about those blog 3 or 4 blog posts that you really need to do. Hopefully I can silence those dreams by blogging today. We'll see.

"I'm so pretty"

Most of the time, Cali has such a serious look on her face and she'll just look at us. We have discovered a way to truly make her smile. She loves to here how pretty and beautiful she is. That is sure to put a smile on her face. The other night, Jethro was sitting on the floor holding Cali as we played with Katya. Katya did something cute and gave me a total cut face to which I said, "Katya you're so beautiful." Immediately after I said it. Cali burst out screaming because we didn't tell her how beautiful she was. We proceeded to tell Cali that she was pretty and beautiful also. This calmed her down and got her to smile. It is just so funny what kids do. I sure do love it.

Book Reading Progress

February

11. Firegirl- Tony Abbott
12. Number the Stars- Lois Lowry
13. A Dance to Remember- Anita Stansfield
14. The Red Badge of Courage- Stephen Crane
15. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
16. Vanished: A Maggie McKenzie Mystery- Lynn Gardner
17. Finding Noel- Richard Paul Evans
18. Race Against time- William Boyd Gardner
19. Pilgrim's Progress- John Bunyan
20. Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad

My favorite book form this past month was "Pilgrim's Progress". It was nothing what I thought it was to be about. I thought it was about the Pilgrim's trip to America and their life here. I was wrong. I's about religious pilgrims.
This book reminds me a lot of the things we are taught in the LDS church about gaining eternal life. It was very interesting. There are lots of Bible references that reinforces what is being said. I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend this for a good read. It definitely gives you a lot to think about.

To My Girls

Gabcast! MrJones #1

On days like today...

It's hard to do anything on those days when you just don't feel good. On days like today, I really like to see this:



It has been so nice lately that we went on a walk yesterday and then again when Jethro came home. I'm excited to go on a walk again today since it's supposed to be 55. I wish it was Spring already.

Those Crazy Russians!

From the Official Gmail Blog.

Pics of the Week

What a personality! I love her smiles! She is so much fun.

Katya is finally over 18 pounds and that means she's old enough
to eat her own Costco size pizza.

A Hopeful Experiment....

For quite a while we have gotten Cali t go to sleep by 11 and then sleep till 8 or 9 in the morning. It was great that she'd sleep so long but I was so exhausted. Katya and Cali share a room but it was hard getting Cali to sleep in her own bed because she would cry and wake Katya up and then they'd both just sit there and wail. That being said, Cali would fall asleep in our bed and then we'd move her to her room. Well, that wasn't fun either. We decided to try an experiment Sunday night. We decided to put them to bed at the same time. It worked, not once but twice. Knock on wood though. I'm afraid that it won't last for too long, even though I want it too. Cali now gets up with Katya at 7:30 or 8. Not too bad for a 3 month old. I just hope it keeps up. I can't be that lucky and have 2 amazing sleeping children in a row, can I?

A Pea in a Pod

We were given something called a "PeaPod". It is an indoor/outdoor travel sleeping tent. We hadn't thought much about it until last week. Katya kept waking up screaming and we were afraid she'd wake up Cali sleeping in the same room. We whipped out the PeaPod and it has been great Cali looks so cute in it too.

It has an inflatable air mattress in the bottom and it folds up kind of small. I think we'll keep it in our car in case we get stuck somewhere and need a contained sleeping area. I like it.

Girl's Night

On Wednesday, I had a girl's Night with Megan while Jethro was in class. We watched the movie "Sydney White"


ate pizza and drank Kool-Aid.

It was a blast. The girl's really liked seeing Aunt Megan. Thanks Megan for letting us come by and hang out.

My loves

Some people don't believe in true love, but I do. I found it when I met Jethro. Every morning when I make up and look at him, my love grows. When I think my heart can't hold any more love, Jethro does something that fills it even more. He is so sweet and so wonderful. I just love him so much and am so glad that I was fortunate to marry him. I love you Jethro.


Besides being so wonderful, Jethro has blessed me with 2 beautiful daughters. Because of this wonderful gift, my heart keeps growing. Just when I think that it finally is really full, there's always more to fill it. Jethro is such a good dad to our two little girls. They both adore him very much and love to see him. It melts my heart when I see him with the girls. I love it.


Katya opened up my heart to a new kind of love-the kind of love a mother has for her child. As she has grown so has my love for her. She brings so much to our family. She always knows just what to do to cheer me up if I'm having a bad day. Her smiles and laughter often fill her house and she is so friendly to everyone. She's our little social butterfly. I love how much joy she brings to my life.


Cali adds a different dimension to mother-child love. Her personality is so different from Katya's, but totally adorable. She is such a serious child, but all of the sudden will break into a huge smile. I melts my heart to see her smile. She always give me the look of "mommy I trust that you'll take care of me and I love you." I love that look. She is so cute.

Thanks Jethro for loving me so much and giving me two cute little girls to love. I love you.

I hate UDOT

That's right, I hate UDOT- Utah Department of Transportation. For the longest time they were on my good side. They were always really good about plowing the roads, getting them sanded, and cleaning things up. That all changed last night. I don't know if they'll be able to redeem themselves.

Last night we were in Provo. Jethro had class and I was visiting my sister Megan. We knew it was supposed to snow and that there would only be 3-5 inches and it would blow through pretty quick. It started snowing when I headed out to get Jethro at school at 2. No biggie. We got to Provo just fine it snowed for awhile in Provo and then let up. One of Jethro's classmates arrived 2 hours late because the roads from Eagle Mountain were pretty bad. He told me to check and see how the roads were before we left Provo. I jumped on the good ol' internet and went straight to UDOT's website. I checked their "up-to-date" road conditions map and they said that the conditions were pretty good with a few spots in the 50 mph range but everything else faster than that. No problem. We'd be home in 40-45 minutes. We headed out and were just going great down the 15 until Pleasant Grove then BAM! Total traffic jam. What the heck!? UDOT said there was no problem. I thought that it would clear up. WRONG! 4 and a half hours later we finally got into Salt Lake. That's right, 4 and a half hours. The wind was blowing and there was snow, but I didn't think it was too bad. The traffic sure sucked. Thanks a lot UDOT for your "up-to-date" winter road conditions map. That's the last time I listen to you!



Staci failed to mention that I had a training (for a safe walking path for students to our school using UDOT software) webinar online on Tuesday night with UDOT. They piped the video through the internet, but didn't do the audio. I had to actually call in and listen to them instead of just plugging my headphones in. Well, the only time they broadcast the training is when I have class. So, I couldn't sit there on my cellphone all through class. I am just dumbfounded that they couldn't pipe the audio through with the video. It just doesn't make sense. I had to watch it, but with out any audio, the screencast was not only boring, but useless. Then, to top things off, they just emailed me and said that we can supposedly watch the training online at any time. Apparently they forgot to to mention that earlier.

Katya's words and prayers

Katya is learning a lot lately. She knows how to sign please and is starting to sign thank you. She catches on pretty quickly. Hopefully that will help to not be so frustrated when she's talking to us. She loves signing please and now does it without us telling her to. When she wants food she'll sign more please. It is pretty cute. I love that she's learning.

We have been trying to teach Katya to fold her arms when we pray. We usually have to help her and she really isn't into us holding her arms folded. That all changed on Sunday. Suddenly she started folding her arms all by herself . Now when I say the word "pray" to her, she drops her toys and folds her arms. It is so cute.

My Wonderful Jethro

What is his name? Jethro Dean Jones

How long have you been married? 3 years 4 months

How long did you date? dating and engagement was 7 months

How old is he? 26

How old are you? 23

Who eats more sweets? both- I love chocolate and he loves ice cream

Who said "I love you first"? He did

Who is taller? He is

Who can sing better? Jethro

Who is smarter? We both are just in different area. For me it's like crafts and hands on things-like fixing things. For Jethro it's book and street smarts.


Who does the laundry? I do

Who does the dishes? Me usually, but we don't have a dishwasher so if Jethro's home when I'm doing them, he helps me.

Who pays the bills? Jethro earns the money and I spend it (i.e. pay the bills)

His guilty pleasures? Apple products (ipods, computers, programs), anything technology related, ice cream

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do

Who mows the lawn? Jethro

Besides you, who is his best friend? No idea. He has lots of really good friends from different stages in his life so I don't know if he considers any of them his best friend.

Who cooks dinner? I usually do

Who drives? Jethro does. He loves to.

Who is more stubborn? We both are in different areas.

Who kissed who first? I kissed Jethro first. He said that he wouldn't kiss me until I was ready. We were talking about it one night and he told me he wasn't going to kiss me that night even if I was ready. I really wanted to kiss him so I went ahead and did it.

Who asked who out first? We just kind of hooked up after hanging out as friends for awhile so a month after we'd hooked up we finally went on an official date.

What was your first date? First real date was blacklight bowling

Who proposed? He did. It was perfect, just like Him.

Who has more siblings? He does 6 to my 4

Who wears the pants? We share

What is your favorite thing about him? Everything, especially his passion. It way drive me crazy sometimes, but when he really wants something he goes after it and cares about it deeply. There are so many more things about him that I love like how much he loves me and the girls, the special daddy-daughter relationship he has, his spirituality, his dedication, his persistence, his desire to never stay in one place to long (career wise, intellectually, financially, all aspects), his service, and I could go on and on. I sure do love my m an for everything he is and everything he stives to be.

Sisters

They are both getting so big. I can't wait until they play together.

Sewing Projects

It may seem like I haven't done a sewing project for awhile, but I have been working on one. It has taken quite a while.

I love my couch, but not for the same reason most people love theirs. Our couch isn't very comfortable, cleanable, or really cute. I like our couch because it comes apart. That's right. It comes apart. We were given it by some friends when we got married and were told it came from IKEA. I love it because it is so easy to move and I don't want to buy nice furniture untilafter we move into a house. Well, after having two kids playing and spitting up on it, it is way dirty. It is too hard to take the covers off and wash them so I decided to recover the couch so that I could easily take the cushion covers off and wash them. It took a while to do, but I'm glad it's done.

Couch and Chair before:



After:

Do I have an accent? Where am I from?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Glad to see that I don't really have an accent.

Motherly responsibilities I hate

I love being a mom. Hands down, it is the best job on earth. But with every job there are the positives and negatives. Most things about being a mom are great, but there are some responsibilities I hate.

1. Cutting their little tiny fingernails. I still haven't figured out how to cut them
without it hurting them.
2. Bulb suctioning their noses. Even though it feels better, I sure hate it.
3. Watching them get shots. I panic when I see needles and it makes my heart
ache for them to have to get stuck by one. I've had 2 c-sections and blood
drawn and shots given a million times so you'd think I wouldn't be afraid of
them, but I am.
4. Changing their diaper when they have diaper rash. It is so sad to see it so
red and to hear them cry. I am not very good when it comes to my kids hurting.
5. Changing poopy clothes, bedding, and whatever else seemed to get it on it. So gross!

At least they tend to outgrow most of this stuff (at least I hope so) by the time they are 5. Even though I hate having to deal with those 5 things, I take them all on a million times a day just so I can have my girls.

The day I cried in front of a bunch of 7th graders

I am not a very emotional person, but sometimes, some things just get to me. Today was one of those days. This is a letter I got from one of my kids:

Dear Dad,
Here is a picture of me in all my cuteness today. I am having a good day and being good for mommy. I also wanted to send you a picture of my crazy sister Katya that was taken a few days ago [the picture in the post called "Hilarious"]. She is so funny. Once I learn how to laugh, I will start laughing with her.

Love,
Baby Cali

This picture was included. I don't know why it brought tears to my eyes...well, I guess I do. It brought tears to my eyes because being a dad is the greatest feeling in the world. People are often amazed and confounded when I tell them that I am 26 and have two kids under 2 years old. I am amazed and confounded when people tell me that they want to wait for the "right" time to have kids. I love my two little girls. They make me so happy. I could not imagine life without them. Thanks Staci for reminding me of that.

Hilarious!!

She makes the funniest faces. Whenever I have a piece of clothing in my hands, whether it's a shirt or a blanket, she likes me to shake it up and down so the air is in her face. She always makes this face. She is definitely a child who like the wind. Hilarious!

Hinckley Challenge

One of the best things about my mission was being able to talk to people about Jesus Christ and the Restored Gospel. It is something that I miss greatly. I still talk about the church and scriptures occasionally, but not nearly as often as I used to. We should talk about the Book of Mormon as we read it. To that end, I have created the BOM wiki. It is a place that everyone involved in the Hinckley challenge can go to and contribute their insights as they read.

I invite everyone to join with me in sharing your insights. Don't be afraid! It will be lots of fun.

I also encourage you to join wikispaces and have a username so we can see who is making great insights.

If you don't know how a wiki works, watch the video below:

Making true on promises

In a post I did last April, I told myself that I would read all sorts of books to educate my mind. Well, that didn't happen. I am a slacker. With my word of the year, I told myself that I would read/listen to more books. Well, the time has come to make good on promises to myself. I was afraid to say anything about it earlier, but since it has been going well, I thought I'd write about it. Instead of reading just classics, I thought I'd throw in books that I enjoy reading to keep me motivated. So at the end of each month I am going to report what I have read/listening to. So here starts my time of accountability.


January

1. Timeless Waltz- Anita Stansfield
2. A Time to Dance- Anita Stansfield
3. Saving Kristen- Jack Weyland
4. Dancing in the Light- Anita Stansfield
5. Adam's Story- Jack Weyland
6. Brittany- Jack Weyland
7. Dancing in the Light- Anita Stansfield
8. A Star in Winter- Anita Stansfield
9. The Giver- Lois Lowry
10. From the Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler- Elaine Lobl Konigsburg

I know many aren't the classics, but in February I have a lot of the classics ready to read and I'm really looking forward to it.

I am #1855, Staci is #1890.

Click here to join me. Leave what number you are in the comments.

How can you not love this face?

I am so glad that every morning I get to see this cute little face. Can I get any luckier than this?

2 Months

Today Cali is 2 months old. I can't believe it. I feel like she was just born. For the most part she sleeps through the nigh- from about 11-8. I just wish I could get her to bed earlier. She smiles so cute, especially when she hears that she is beautiful. I just love this little Cali so much. She is so different than Katya, but a lot the same. I love how she is developing her own personality. I can already tell that she is going to be a serious child. She always has such a serious look on her face and is always so solemn. It is so cute though. I just love her.

I took her in for her 2 month checkup today and I was totally surprised. I kept telling people that I thought she was about 12 pounds and nobody believed me. They kept saying how she was lighter than that. Well, I was more right than everyone else was. She weighs in at a whopping 13 lb. 5 oz.! I can't believe it! She is also 23.5 inches long. Wow! I don't know where she's putting all that weight at, but she doesn't look extremely fat. She just looks so cute.

I thought I'd post pics to show how different Katya and Cali were at 2 months.

Katya 7lb. 7 oz. 21 in.

Cali 13 lb. 5 oz. 23.5 in.

What a difference between the two. I love them both and am so grateful to have them both and that they can grow up together.

From the interwebs

Thanks to Team GRASSE for the link.

President Gordon B. Hinckley Dies at 97

Here are the links. I saw President Hinckley speak a few times. I ran the teleprompter for him once at BYU-Idaho. Other than that, I haven't had any personal contact with him. I do know this, though: Gordon B. Hinckley was a prophet of God, just like Moses, Adam, Noah, Peter, Nephi, Lehi, Mormon, and all the other holy prophets in the scriptures.

Our Third Kid

That's right, we have an announcement. We have another kid. Have is the operative word, not having. Do you think we are crazy or something?

Here is our new kid. Isn't it cute?!!





We just love our new kid it brings so much joy to our lives.


Pretty cool, huh? It is definitely going to take me forever to eat. Paul, our landlord, just returned from a trip out East. While there, he went to Hershey, Pennsylvania. This is the biggest chocolate bar they make. Can you believe it is 5 pounds? I don't know when I'll be able to finish it. I think it is every woman's dream to have a 5 pound chocolate bar. I am one lucky woman. Thanks Paul for the wonderful chocolate bar.

Word of the Year

After reading Kristi's post about picking a word for the year, I was inspired to do the same. I thought about it all yesterday and went to bed thinking about it. I think some of the best ideas come in the shower and that's when I thought of my word. It is MOLD. I'm not talking about the mold in the shower or on food, I'm talking about the other mold. A definition that Dictionary.com had that suits my reason for choosing this word is "a distinctive nature, character, or type". I want to mold my life into the way it should be and the way I want it to be. I want to apply this word to all faucets of my life.

Here are the ways I want to MOLD my life:

• Physically- No more being lazy. I'm going to work out at least twice a week. I need the energy to play with the kids.
• Spiritually- I need to read the scriptures more and be more involved in discussions at church on a regular basis. This also involves going to the temple at least once a month.
  
• Financially- Be more balanced financially and look to the future.
• Intellectually- Read/Listen to more books on many different subjects and by many different authors
• Relationships- I want to grow closer to Jethro and I want to mold our relationship into one of greater love and understanding. I want to mold the relationships with my girls into something that they will always remember.
• Friendships- I want to be a better friend and move out of my shyness and mold myself into someone who is more friendly and more open.
• Myself- I want to take time for myself. I think that after staying home and taking care of two kids all day, I tend to forget who I am and who I want to become. I want to take time to fit the mold of the person I've always dreamed of being.
• Talents- I've always thought that I haven't had many talents, but it's not true. I am going to take the time to develop those talents in a way that I will feel better about myself and that will help me be the person I desire.

I want to be a distinct and unique individual. I don't want to fall by the wayside. I don't have to. My molding myself into the person I want to be, I can become a better person with better self-esteem and a better contributor to society. I want to do this for myself. I don't want to hide anymore. I'm excited to have a year filled with challenges of striving to do and be better. Hopefully I can keep it up and come out better in the end.

Oldy but a goody

I blogged about this when I hosted this blog on my website, but since I deleted all those posts, it is no longer an option. Staci and I moved into our new apartment in the fall of 2005, after living in southern California for 4 months. We didn't have anybody help us, and we needed to move our stuff, so we got creative. I still want a truck.

I Am a Child of God!

This cute video shows that Katya is very smart and knows who people are, especially the important ones. She says "I love this person" by kissing their picture. So cute!

Contest

I saw this contest on a link from someone's blog and thought I'd see what it was all about. All I can say is that the jewelry is just gorgeous.

Teresa is running her first contest of the year over at her personal blog. You have a chance to win a beautiful turquoise bracelet created by Lori Jaclyn. She’s willing to ship anywhere and that means anyone is eligible to participate and win.

Finally some video of Cali

One thing that always amazes Staci and me about Cali is that she grows! She is already wearing size 2 diapers at night. Katya (19 months older) is wearing size 3 diapers. You can see how chubby she is in this video. It is very cute. The other night, Staci went over to check on her as she was sleeping in the baby papasan, and she saw her doing this:

Sewing Projects

Did I ever mention how much I love my sewing machine? Well, I really do. Here are just a few of my recent projects. They are fleece pillows with the edges tied. I think they turned out pretty cute.



I wonder what I should do next.